Rumour: Marvel vs Capcom 3 announcement imminent

A threequel for Capcom's classic superhero brawler? It looks kind of likely

The rumour comes from a story over onTeam Spooky, claiming that the big C is priming the announcement for May, just a couple of months before E3. Why should we pay more attention to this than any of the other 8, 769, 007 rumours on the internet? Because the claimant is the same guy who exposed Super Street Fighter IV's full character roster well before the official reveal. But there are a few other things to consider on this one, on both sides of the "Is it true?" seesaw:

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Producer Ryuta Niitsuma said earlier in the year that he'd love to do another 'vs' game if TvC sold well. He even went as far as saying that if the game was successful, we could hear an announcement within the year. That sounds like the word of a man who already has plans to us. And TvC has done pretty well, particularly for a Wii-exclusive with a character roster half made up of fighters most westerners don't know. Multiply 'pretty well' by a Marvel license and a release on both HD consoles and you've got big money on the way.

Above: MORE OF THIS SORT OF THING!

The current state of that Marvel license is a murky area. Activision is still churning out Spidey games, and who knows what the situation is with new deals since Disney bought out the comic company. Though given that Capcom was allowed to re-publish MvC2 on XBLA and PSN last year, we'd guess there's still some leeway. Though how easy it would be to get a new game on the go is unknown.

Regarding MvC2. It was a welcome re-release but an unexpected one. Was Capcom testing the water to see if it was warm enough to dunk a sequel into? We'd be speculating wildly however we answered that question, but it's not impossible.

Following Street Fighter IV and TvC, a new MvC could be amazing. Take one look at that 100% genuine, totally real, not Photoshopped at all screenshot at the top of the page and tingle with excitement. Blend the frantic combat anarchy of MvC and TvC with SFIV's show-stopping cinematic Ultra combos and you've got a scarily good prospect. Especially if you take into account MvC2's three-way team super moves. Gurgle. That's all we have to say. Gurgle.

But what do you think? Is this rumour likely to come true? Would you want it to? And if so, what characters and gameplay features would you like to see in MvC3? As always, let us know in the comments, or via our portals onFacebookandTwitter.